Even as the union home ministry put the nation on a state of high alert, intelligence sources said they are investigating three possible scenarios.
Among the threads being examined are the visits of David Coleman Headley, the US citizen in custody for his links to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), to Pune, especially the blast area; the contact of a Kashmir-based LeT member with a Pune-based woman techie; and the possible remnants of Indian Mujahideen.
Given that the attack took place in an area frequented by Headley during his India stay, intelligence agencies are looking at the possibility of LeT having organised the bomb blast based on inputs provided by Headley.
Headley had stayed at Hotel Surya Villa in the German Bakery lane during his visit to Pune on March 16, 2009. Police sources told DNA that an alert about a possible terrorist attack in the Koregaon Park area had been sounded about three months ago. After this, barricades were put up on the North Main Road to conduct regular screening of vehicles and step up patrolling.
The German Bakery is located on North Main Road at Koregaon Park, close to the Jewish Chabad House and Osho International Meditation Resort, both of which were visited by Headley.
Headley’s visit to Pune in March was preceded by a visit in July 2008, and on both occasions he had visited the Osho Commune. Police suspect that Headley made these visits to survey the area as possible bomb blast targets, given the high presence of foreigners in the area.
Female IT exec with LeT links
The second line of investigation, of equal interest for intelligence agencies is the intercepts of phone conversations between an LeT operative based in Jammu and Kashmir, and a female IT professional based in Pune.
The ‘unusual’ contact between the two had come up in the radar of investigators a few weeks ago. But there is nothing substantial right now to indicate that this contact had anything to do with today’s blasts.
SIMI under scanner
Third is the presence of the Indian Mujahideen operatives and SIMI activists in Pune. Mansoor Peerbhoy, the alleged media head of Indian Mujahideen, and another individual, a doctor with close ties to IM leadership, were both Pune residents. And there is a sizeable SIMI presence in the city, intelligence sources say.
But for now, sources said the immediate focus of the security and intelligence agencies is to pick up maximum inputs from the blast scene.
So, the home ministry has rushed a team of National Investigative Agency (NIA) officials and another group of forensic experts from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to Pune, home secretary GK Pillai said. The secretary said the explosion is “most probably” a terror attack.
